It’s Always Shark-Hunting Season in ‘Sharknado: ShARkmented Reality’

Bring the absurdist magic of Sharknado to your front lawn with this new AR game.

Syfy’s Sharknado franchise, now approaching the launch of its fifth installment, has become for many a staple of the summer. The series, which focuses on what happens when a tornado sucks up sharks and floods the streets of LA, is an oddball mix of disaster and dark comedy—and Sharknado 5: Global Swarming doesn’t give any impression of failing its legacy.

And now, thanks to a partnership between Syfy and AR Glimpse, diehard fans and newcomers alike have the chance to immerse themselves even deeper in the weird world with an AR app called Sharknado:ShARkmented Reality.

“We’re always looking at what’s next,” said Syfy’s Senior Vice President for Digital Matthew Chiavelli. “We saw this concept as a great fit for Sharknado. I’d be lying if I didn’t say Pokemon GO was in an influence.”

The gameplay is pretty straightforward; you hit start and instantly find yourself standing in the middle of a Sharknado feeding-frenzy—armed only with a chainsaw and your will to survive. Each level you complete unlocks a new weapon…but at the same time you’re also unlocking more dangerous sharks.

Choose the right weapon for each level to improve your chances of survival; fighting sharks on your own front lawn starts to make a lot more sense than you would think. This reviewer found the gameplay at it’s best in an outdoor environment and at night vs an indoor environment. I stopped noticing the choppy graphics because of how much fun I had fighting off the sharks in broad daylight. No telling what my neighbors thought.

As a final touch, you can also use the app to take AR photos with the sharks for the perfect shareable moment, which I ended up enjoying most of all.

This app speaks to a larger embrace of emerging technologies by the entertainment industry. For proof, keep an eye out for our continued coverage of announcements regarding virtual, augmented, and mixed reality experiences at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con.

ShARkmented Reality is available now on iOS and Android. Sharknado 5: Global Swarming will be out on August 6.